Playard having shade device

ABSTRACT

At least one foldable opaque shade device is disposed adjacent to an upright post of a playard that can block lights from coming into the playard and provide a comfortable environment for a baby/toddler inside. The at least one shade device is capable of selectively setting in a folding status or an unfolding status. When the at least one shade device is set to the folding status, it is folded adjacent to the standing post at one side of the playard via a rotary axle or other type of folding mechanism. The at least one shade device can be unfolded from the standing post(s), and the lateral surface of the playard between the two standing posts is fully covered by the shade device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/957,171, which was filed on Aug. 22, 2007, and is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to playard, and more specifically, to a playard having shade device for blocking lights.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Conventional playard generally includes a frame where soft goods having meshes are wrapped around for ventilation. On one hand, baby in the playard can enjoy environment with good ventilation and lighting. On the other hand, the soft goods having meshes around the playard can prevent baby from falling out of the playard. For babysitter outside the playard, the soft goods having meshes also allow him/her to look inside the playard directly so as to keep an eye on the baby. Such light-transmittable enclosure, however, can not block glaring lights from transmitting therethrough when in a bright circumstance and it certainly causes interruption to baby sleeping therein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a playard. The playard comprises a frame and a first shade device. The frame comprises a first standing post and a second standing post, and a lateral surface between the first standing post and the second standing post. The first shade device is movably disposed on the frame and capable of being selectively set in a folding status where the first shade device is located near the first standing post or in an unfolding status where the first shade device covers at least part of the side lateral su rface.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a first embodiment of a playard according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an embodiment for folding the shade device of the playard.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the shade device in the first embodiment when set in the unfolding status.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the shade devices in a second embodiment when set in the unfolding status.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the second embodiment where only one shade device is unfolded and covers part of the lateral surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1 for a first embodiment of a playard 10 according to the present invention. The playard 10 includes standing posts 11,12,13,14, a top frame 2, and a bottom frame 3. A mattress 7 is put upon the bottom frame 3 so that a baby or a toddler can lie on it or play thereon. Ventilative mesh enclosures 4 are mounted between each two standing posts 11˜14. In the present embodiment, the posts are upright, but the invention is not limited thereby. Because the mesh enclosures 4 are not opaque, baby lying in the playard 10 may be interfered by lights transmitting therethrough. Hence, a shade device 5 made with opaque soft goods is disposed adjacent to the standing post 11, either set to in the unfolding or folding status. FIG. 1 shows that the shade device 5 is folded adjacent to the standing post 11. In the present embodiment, the shade device 5 is exemplified by a light shielding drape.

The shade device 5 can be folded adjacent to the standing post 11 by any folding form. Please refer to FIG. 2. In the embodiment of the present invention, a rotary axle 6 is configured at the standing post 11 and a first end 51 of the shade device 5 connects to the rotary axle 6. An elastic element, which is not shown in the figure, is placed between the rotary axle 6 and the shade device 5 and can bias the shade device 5 toward the folding status. When the shade device 5 is folded adjacent to the standing post 11 as shown in FIG. 1, it is set in a folding status. The mesh enclosure 4 on the lateral surface between the standing post 11 and the standing post 12 appears so that lights can transmit through the mesh enclosure 4 into the playard 10.

Please refer to FIG. 3. When the shade device 5 is pulled from the folding status near the standing post 11 toward direction N to an unfolding status, or even a second end 52 of the shade device 5 extends to the standing post 12, the shade device 5 has total coverage over the mesh enclosure 4 at the lateral surface between the standing post 11 and the standing post 12. Since the shade device 5 is opaque, lights can be completely blocked from transmitting into the playard 10. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 2, the playard 10 further includes a supporter 8, for example, a flexible wire, a rigid rod, or a slideway in the embodiment, that connects between the standing post 11 and the standing post 12. The shade device 5 also includes a plurality of sliding pieces 53, such as washers, that go through the supporter 8 and are movable on the supporter 8. With the sliding pieces 53 moving on the supporter 8, the shade device 5 can move between the folding status as shown in FIG. 1 and the unfolding status as shown in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the supporter 8 is concealed behind a curtain 41 that is mounted under the top frame 2 and the shade device 5 is concealed behind a curtain 42 that is mounted on the standing post 11,12 when the shade device 5 moves to the folding status, while for illustrative purpose, the curtain 41 and the curtain 42 are not shown in FIG. 2.

In addition to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, embodiments in the present invention can also use two shade devices, each disposing adjacent to two neighboring standing posts respectively. According to a second embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 4, the playard 20 has a first shade device 25 and a second shade device 26 that are foldably and movably disposed adjacent to the standing post 11 and the standing post 12 respectively, where the way of folding the shade devices 25, 26 can be the same as the first embodiment or any other known folding form. The first shade device 25 can be pulled toward direction N1 and the second shade device 26 can be pulled toward direction N2 at the same time to set the first shade device 25 and the second shade device 26 to the unfolding status as shown in FIG. 4. Each shade device, either 25 or 26, covers half of the area of the mesh enclosure 4 between the standing post 11 and the standing post 12.

One more note for the present invention should be made. In the second embodiment, the shade devices 25, 26 of playard 20 can have more usage by only extending one of the shade devices 25,26 to the middle of the lateral surface between the standing posts 11,12 so that the lateral surface is left to partially light-transmissive. Finally, although only the lateral surface between the standing post 11 and the standing post 12 is chosen for descriptive purpose, all four lateral surfaces of the playard can apply the feature disclosed in the present invention, each using one light shielding drape, such as the shade device 5 in the first embodiment, or two light shielding drapes, such as the two shade devices 25,26 in the second embodiment, for blocking lights from the surroundings.

The present invention utilizes a number of foldable opaque shade devices disposing adjacent to each standing post of the playard so that lights can be blocked out, not coming into the playard and the playard can provide a comfortable environment for a baby/toddler inside. Each shade device is capable of selectively setting in a folding status or an unfolding status. The shade device is set to the folding status where the shade device is folded adjacent to the standing post at the side of the playard via a rotary axle or other type of folding mechanism. The light shielding drape(s) can be unfolded from the standing post(s) to fully cover the lateral surface of the playard between the two standing posts.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims. 

1. A playard comprising: a frame comprising a first standing post and a second standing post, and a lateral surface between the first standing post and the second standing post; and a first shade device movably disposed on the frame and capable of being selectively set in a folding status where the first shade device is located near the first standing post or in an unfolding status where the first shade device covers at least part of the lateral surface.
 2. The playard of claim 1, wherein the frame further comprises a supporter connecting between the first standing post and the second standing post and the first shade device comprises a plurality of sliding pieces by which the first shade device is movably disposed on the supporter.
 3. The playard of claim 2, wherein the supporter is a wire or a rod and the plurality of sliding pieces are washers.
 4. The playard of claim 2 wherein the supporter is a slideway and the sliding pieces are washers.
 5. The playard of claim 2, further comprising a curtain where the supporter is concealed therebehind.
 6. The playard of claim 1, further comprising a rotary axle disposed near the first standing post and to which the first shade device connects, and the first shade device set to roll to the folding status by the rotary axle.
 7. The playard of claim 6, wherein the rotary axle comprises an elastic element for biasing the first shade device toward the folding status when the first shade device is set in the unfolding status.
 8. The playard of claim 7, wherein the first shade device comprises a sliding piece by which the first shade device is movably disposed on the frame when set in the unfolding status.
 9. The playard of claim 1, further comprising a second shade device movably disposed on the frame and capable of being selectively set in a folding status or in an unfolding status, the first shade device and the second shade device respectively covering the part of the lateral surface when both set in the unfolding status and the second shade device locating near the second standing post when set in the folding status.
 10. The playard of claim 9, further comprising a rotary axle disposed near the second standing post and to which the second shade device connects, and the second shade device set to roll to the folding status by the rotary axle.
 11. The playard of claim 10, wherein the rotary axle adjacent to the second standing post comprises an elastic element for biasing the second shade device toward the folding status when the second shade device is set in the unfolding status.
 12. The playard of claim 11, wherein the second shade device comprises a sliding piece by which the second shade device is movably disposed on the frame when set in the unfolding status.
 13. The playard of claim 9, wherein the first shade device and the second shade device are opaque soft goods.
 14. The playard of claim 9, further comprising the lateral surface having meshes between the first standing post and the second standing post, the first shade device and the second shade device covering the mesh enclosure when set in the unfolding status.
 15. The playard of claim 1, wherein when the first shade device is set in the unfolding status, the first shade device extends to the second standing post and covers the lateral surface.
 16. The playard of claim 1, further comprising a curtain covering on the first standing post and at which the first shade device is concealed therebehind when the first shade device is set in the folding status. 